Do you approve of Obsidian's current projects?

[Texas Red]

Too early to tell.

However I do think it's funny that people here complain about Yet Another Generic Fantasy RPG, and then Obsidian decides to make a spy RPG and an Alien RPG, and now we see WHHAAAAAAAAAAAA WHERES THE ELVES????

Because there can't be an original fantasy game, like PS:T or Arcanum, right?

 

[Solohk]

Sure, there can be.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

There should be "kingcomrade" option in the pole

Definately. There was SOMETHING wrong with this poll.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

It`s hard to imagine a Alien RPG, the only thing which makes sense is to shoot them. Of course you could have dialogues with your team and act scared and so on, but in the end it just comes down to kill that alien or those aliens.

 

[elander_]

Both will be awesome games but not heavy rpgs.

It`s hard to imagine a Alien RPG, the only thing which makes sense is to shoot them. Of course you could have dialogues with your team and act scared and so on, but in the end it just comes down to kill that alien or those aliens.

Avellone explained this in that thread VD made. Aliens are just the motivators. A primal force of nature that is too instinctive to control. The real conflict will be between the different human factions. I'm curious to see how they will flesh out the human society of the aliens setting.

 

[Callaxes]

As I dislike games set in modern times, Alpha Protocol seems really unappealing. The story is completely lame and average, I wish they would bring in some divine or alien factors to spice it up.

You mean like Farrenheit?

Sorry, but any modern time game that tries to be supernatural in some parts ends up being corny. The abundance of conspiracies in Deus Ex broke the game for me here and there, Area 51 was the worst level in the whole game IMO. Of course there are ways to do it right, off the top of my head, you can do it like:

1. World of Darkness - You don't hold back on the supernatural part. You throw in anything fantastical you can think of and then find a way to make the world coherent. Stories like WoD don't try to be subtle. You played Bloodlines, it has anything from werewolfs to vampires and everything in between.

2. Any ghost story you can think of - What do they have in comon? They acknowledge the existence of a supernatural element, but they are either subtle or never give you a straight answuer. The mistery behind something makes it scary and interesting.

So you basicly have 2 extremes, the middle ground being a No-No. As for me, I really like modern settings, I prefer them to fantasy any day, mainly because there's a very sour mature thing going with them which I enjoy.

I going to jump on the same boat as the people who are saying it's too early.


PS: You wanna go out sometime?

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Alpha Protocol...not so much. It seems kind of lame for Obsidian. Here you've got a bunch of talent and it seems like it's going to waste. The dialogue stance system seems very hokey and I'm not sure why Obsidian would dumb down dialogue from Mass Effect. The combat looks to be Mass Effect exactly, except for a change in setting. Stuff like unlimited ammo with overheat and a cooldown "power" system cement the Mass Effect feel. Generally the space for creativity in writing seems pretty slim. They've already said that basically you can only choose one of three paths for your agent. Coupled with the fact that it seems more a "serious"spy theme as opposed to something like No One Lives Forever, I don't think it's really going to go anywhere.

Aliens on the other hand could go a lot of ways. The stupidest thing would probably be a real time "Alien Siege", but I'd assume Obsidian is above that. "XCOM with Aliens" would be alright. A serious RPG centered more around all the big corporations and their interactions would be even better. Hell, they could even go with a King of Dragon Pass-like with the player jumping in the reins of a high up general or corporate executive charged with achieving certain objectives and having choices on how to do it.

 

[Gragt]

People seem to forget (that or they did not really watch the movies closely) that an important part of Alien and Aliens are the humans and not monsters. The last movies (especially the Aliens vs Predator crap) switched the focus to the monsters and you really did not care about who would survive (the less the merrier) but the first two movies wouldn't have been the same without Dallas, Kaine, Lambert, Parker, Hicks, Hudson, Vasquez, Burke, many others I forgot and of course Ripley (certainly one of the best movie heroes EVAR).

If Obsidian forgets the characters and focus on the monsters, then yeah, I doubt it will be very interesting. Still they have some really nice guys there who understand this concept (J.E. Sawyer talked a few times of the people from the first two movies and that gives me faith in the direction the game is heading) and if anyone can make an rpg in the alien universe, it should be them. I believe there is a lot of potential for character interaction in the Alien universe and maybe not simply on the level of the individual vs the evil mega corporation (which was one big theme of the 80's especially in sc-fi movies).

Of course it may suck but for now I have good hopes.

 

[fastpunk]

I'm interested in both projects, I like that Obsidian is having a crack at different settings.

Alpha Protocol, while not looking particularly compelling on paper, can turn out quite nicely. I have faith in Avellone and Mitsoda and their design prowess. Also, a game doesn't necessarily need an original premise or story to be compelling.

The Aliens RPG is still a big mystery, but that makes it even more interesting, for me at least. I'm really curious to see how the role-playing elements will fuse with this setting. It's also quite obvious that this game will depend a lot on Obsidian's ability to create the right atmosphere. Judging by KotOR2's dark tone or Mask of the Betrayer's ethereal feel, these guys can certainly create the right mood for the setting.

 

[Gragt]

I hope MCA will place the "LET'S ROCK!" line somewhere.

 

[Disconnected]

I'm sceptical about Alpha Protocol, because I have a very hard time imagining how they could present a CIA-centred game without either insulting my intelligence or making me sick.

The Alien game, however.. Man, I can't fucking wait.

 

[NiM82]

I'm not too keen on AP, it seems a bit too much like Mass Effect meets Alias or something. From what little I've read, I think I the Aliens RPG will be more interesting - but it's too early to tell atm.

I don't have any issue with them dropping the fantasy stuff, that's welcome, it's more the shift to towards the mainstream and probable mediocrity that has me concerned.

 

[Lemunde]

I'm a pretty big fan of the first two Alien movies so I keep a close eye on anything related to them. However the quality of the sequels, spinoffs and games based on them is hit and miss so I give this new game a 50/50 chance it will be good.

I don't really know much about Alpha Protocol but given the setting it doesn't really appeal to me.

 

[Ismaul]

I don't care much for the Aliens setting, and AP looks pretty generic. But still, it's refreshing to see other stuff than the usual fantasy. Hopefully, it'll allow them to off the main fantasy clichés. I also don't care much about the combat system, as long as it's not clunky. What I do care about is roleplaying, and it seems to me that Obsidian is actively trying to improve it, even if the result of a dialogue system like AP uses has still to make its proof.

I believe they realize they cannot compete with FPShooter/Stealth games on the action gameplay front. Hence focusing on dialogues.

For AP, it could become very interesting if they put relationships with main NPCs under pressure with (possible) conspiracy, manipulation, questioning loyalty, chosing sides... I haven't seen many games take this kind of intrigue and make it personal, involve tension with coworkers/friends. Doubt your mission, change side and suddenly you have a crisis on your hands: friends become ennemies, maybe they follow you... There's lots of potential RPG goodness there, I just hope they go all the way in that direction.

Aliens is also interesting, because the game can't be centered on aliens, but rather the effect they have on our minds, mainly fear and how we deal. I sure hope the alien threat makes humans tear each other/each faction appart from fear.

There's potential in those games, and Obsidian looks willing to exploit this depth, which is better than I can say for most devs/publishers out there. I'm optimistic until I know more.

 

[spiwak]

I'm totally excited about both. I trust Chris Avellone and those guys at Obsidian, now that they have some cash in the bank. I think at the worst they will be glorious failures.

 

[racofer]

When Obsidian develops something that doesn't look like this I might reconsider. It would also be nice that if it requires a computer from 2015 to play it should at least not look like a 2000 game, because if there's one game in history that gave me nausea while playing it was NWN2.

 

[mondblut]

I don't like aliens, I don't like super-spies. I wish they stuck to NWN expansions.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

I'm pretty optimistic with Aliens. Other than technical problems, I can't think of many ways how Obsidian would mess up an Aliens RPG.

AP could be a pretty good stealth action game with rpg elements, but I haven't actually seen any gameplay footage (is there any?).

 

[ghostdog]

yeah, if Obsidian kept making generic DnD fantasy that has been used to death in RPG's , everyone would be happy. Different settings are obscure and frightening. Look at PS:T, if it was placed in forgotten realms it would have sold like crazy.

That said, Obsidians Art direction needs much improvement. I hope they pull their act together and create an interesting atmosphere for their games. These two games could be their breakthrough or their downfall.

 

[Texas Red]

Look at PS:T

And? Look at Morrowind with its weirdness and millions. There were probably other factors at play, more plausible that people find the setting different. For example, character creation sux, only 3 classes compared to BGs etc.

 

[Pseudofool]

Whether AP's interface is like ME or not doesn't matter to me; it's all about how the character interacts with the world and the NPCs, which ME had an EPIC FAIL at.

The Alien project could be cool, but at this point, who knows...

 

[Ismaul]

Look at Morrowind with its weirdness

You mean those ugly faces, right?
Yeah, totally threw me off.

 

[Rhett Butler]

Avellone explained this in that thread VD made. Aliens are just the motivators. A primal force of nature that is too instinctive to control. The real conflict will be between the different human factions. I'm curious to see how they will flesh out the human society of the aliens setting.

This actually sounds pretty good. I haven't been following either game thus far, but I may pay more attention to the Alien one. I couldn't give a flying fuck about Alpha Protocol, nothing I have heard has given me any reason to.

Edit: As far as the poll goes, I'm writing in Kingcomrade.

 

[Mareus]

Judging by KotOR 2 and MotB it is clear that Obsidian is the best developer.

Just one question? From what did you come to that conclusion?

Kotor2 -> shitty ending that completely ruined all that was done great, and a silly, silly story. Wound in the force my ass.
NWN2 -> A good game that also falls apart in the end, but also a game that really didn't offer anything new, except the castle managment.
MoTB -> an expansion that reallly surprised the hell out of me with it's story, but also an expansion which suffers from the same engine problems as NWN2 suffers from. Characters that were completely dull comparing to the lively characters from NWN2 and combat which almost breaks itself on higher levels because from all the effects you cannot see anything.

As for the two upcomming games, I look forward to them both because Obsidian IS ONE OF THE BEST RPG developers and games probably won't be bad. I certainly hope they will be better than what they did so far. Also setting doesn't mean shit if the writting is good.

You can have alice in wonderland setting and still make something great out of it with good ideas. Look what Motb did after NWN2... Same character, same setting, same engine, two completely different games.

 

[Jasede]

Fuck you.